PeerJ Author & Reviewer
35 Points
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Mahendar Kadari
PeerJ Author & Reviewer
Work details
Postdoctoral fellow
University of Louisville
August 2022
Microbiology and Immunology
Understanding the Zinc acquisition mechanisms by Yersinia pestis during infection:
Transition metals such as iron (Fe), zinc (Zn) and manganese (Mn) are essential co-factors required for bacterial growth. As such, eukaryotic organisms have developed mechanisms to limit the availability of these metals to restrict the growth of invading bacteria, commonly referred to as nutritional immunity. However, successful bacterial pathogens have in turn evolved high-affinity metal acquisition systems that allow them to acquire these metals and overcome nutritional immunity. The siderophore yersiniabactin, which allows Y. pestis to acquire Fe during infection, is a prime example of a virulence mechanism that allows Y. pestis to overcome nutritional immunity.
Recently, the yersiniabactin biosynthesis machinery has also been shown to be important for Zn acquisition by Y. pestis, likely through the production of a novel zincophore. Using a combination of biochemical and genetic approaches we are aiming to understand the yersiniabactin transport mechanisms.
